Method and apparatus for transferring cargoes by crane



F. H. WEEKS 1,808,873

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING CARGOES BY CRANE June 9, 1931.

Filed April 16. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR BM \w cock June 9, 1931. WEEKS 1308,87 3 I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING CARGOES BY CRANE Filed April 16, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //vvE/v OR 3 mum Patented June 9, 1931 PATENT oer-' 1s FRANCIS K. WEEKS, 01! NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FGR TRANSFERBDTG CES BY CRANE Application filed April it,

in Fi 1.

I a l I I I i Fig. i is perspective view of the interior I.

- place end bundles of cargo formed ready for trsnsier. Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section thru 2. berge showing bundles of cargo undergoing stowage together with e form of apparatus suited to this purpose.

ig. 9 is a top view of Fig. 8.

ig. it) is a side view of the bundle stowage s s atus.

ig. 11 is end view of Fig. 10.

.3 invention relates the movement of cargoes which must be transferred by crane, from the carrier. its preferred and most profitable application it relates to the movemerit of cargoes which to reach their destination must be transported in a succession of difierent cergo carriers. An example of such e cargo is pulp wood which is shipped over considerable distances in a vessel, then transferred to barges end. may thereafter be trans- :terred to freight cars for inland transport.

Alternatively, of course, such a cargo may be transferred directly from the vessel to freight ours, or may be delivered to its destination by the barges? A pulp wood cargo has been recited es an example merely, and the invention is appli cable to any cargo which in accordance with the previous practice is ordinaril shipped in individual pieces and temporarily collected into bundles by a. sling for transfer into or out of the carrier. A preferred application is to the transfer of pieces which are of nonangular cross-section such as tree trunk sections.

1929. Serial Ito. 855,480.

The term cargo esemployed herein, denotes'the load carried by any form of carrier and is not restricted to vessels. 4

The rectice in moving such materials has hereto ore been to stack the same in individual pieces in or on the carrier, for example the hold or deck oi e vessel. llVhen removal is desired it number of such pieces, sufiicient to constitute e convenient load for theorems are brought together, usually by hand, and s sling is looped about the group. One end of the slin is connected to the crene-hook end the ot" or end oi the sling is slidebly looped about the said connected portion so that as the crane lifts, the loo contracts end ml the bundle tightens. The undle usually changes substantially in cross-section during this period and owing to the change of form the bundle, not infrequently spills at this point resulting in as loss of time and incidental danger from felling pieces. When the load is delivered into the carrier which receives it, the sling is loosened end the pieces are egein individually stowed ewsy. lhis process is repented st such transfer with a corresponding loss or? time to the cargo carrier and duplication of labor charges. I am swore that, in an effort to solve the problem it has been suggested to leave the slings with the bundles, but the slings loosen, when the bundle is let down and owing to the numberof slingsrequired, the expense of this method 18 excessive The term crane as herein employed denotes any mechanical device for lifting, by machinery, 'loeds which are too heavy for manual handling.

These dificulties ere obviated in my method by collecting the individual pieces mto bundles of convenient size tobe handled by crane and securin the bundle with a ligament which is or efinite length". The ligament is preferably left attached during subsequent transportation so that the time and expense of stowing ewsy the individual pieces for 5 transport and subsequent collecting them into bundles for removal are avoided in each case. The bundles formed in accordance with my method maybe picked up bythe crane in any manner, thus for example, a sling may be 45 means of securing the ends to orm a bindlooped about the preformed bundles. Alternatively, the bundles may be lifted by tongs or by any other device. In this case it is desirable that the lifting means so engage the' bundle that the entire strain of lifting it is not carried by the ligament.

Alternatively, tongs or ropes may be attached to one or more of the individual pieces in the bundle while the ligament previously applied holds the bundle together thereby dispensing with the necessity for a sling. In this latter method of handling, the ligament must be of suflicient strength to lift the bundle without the assistance of a slin One referred le by connecting directly to the ligament so that the lift of the individual pieces is accomplished by the ligament. itself. In formin the bundles I prefer to use a cradle of cylndrical ca acity, so that the bundle will have a su tantially circular cross-section. Such a bundle has a minimum perimeter in proportion to its cross sectional area and shows a maximum stability when handled in the manner disclosed. I find it additionally helpful toap ly the binding under tenslon so that the indin will not slacken to any great extent when t e bundle is picked up for transfer.

igs. 1, 2 and 3, show a cradle 1 ad pted to the formation of the bundles hereinbefore described. This may have a chamber for holdin the individual pieces the cross-section 0 which is a circular segment. The

, The ligaments or bindings may bundle ma be formed by laying individual pieces in the cradle until a complete bundle of roughly circular cross-section is made. The ligament 3 is then placed about the bundle 1, preferably centrally with respect to the length and fastened, for example, b twisti its endstoggther while under tension. l evices for 100 ing or otherwise securing the ends of the ligament are available and need not be herein described. It will of course be understood that an alternative ing of definite n -may be em loyed. be ormed of a single turn of wire surroundin the bundle at about the center of its lengt applied in tension and having its ends twisted together or otherwise secured in order to prevent loosening. Multi-strand wire or cable may alternatively be used and several turns about the bundle may be taken if desired.

The term definite length does not mean that the bindin are all of the same over-all length, but indicates that the binding when applied'has a definite, unchanging length in contradistinction to a slin which tightens and contracts as the load'islifted.

Fi s. 4, fiend 6, show a-form of hook 4 whic may be employed where it is desired to lift the bundles by means of the bindings.

formed into bundles, of the forremoval by crane 6'.

method consists in lifting t e buny case. It is'm of said sections into-a bundle of en Fig. 7 shows a cargo carrying vessel 5 with a portion of the exterior cut away.

The portio'n of the hold thereby uncovered shows a cargo of ulp wood viz. tree trunk sections of roug y uniform length bein kind described,

These bundles may if desired be picked up in roups by means of the apparatus 7 shown in %i 10 and 11 which comprises hooks 8 for li ing the said bundles suspended from a beam 9 at symmetrical distances from the int 10 by which the beam is suspended rom a crane. By the use of this device, bundles maybe conveniently placed under the deck over-hang of a barge, as for example, the barge shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The apparatus may of course be conversely employed for removingbundlesg' although, its maximum utility-resides in the fact that bundles may be stowed or let down in any desired position, even though this trill-01]. cannot be brought directly benea l the crane hook owing to some vertically intervening structure.

Althoufgh I have described a ific ex-' ample o my inven 'on as applied to the saving oft e time requiredto stow cargc in pieces and of the time requiredte re-es semble bundles for lifting by sling in each intention that the invention be limited 0 y by the appended claims or their equivalentsfln which I have endeavored to claim broadly all inherent novelty.

claim:

1. Method of transferring a o consieting of tree trunk sections, the lengt of which 'is several times the diameter, by means of a number of successively employed cargo can riers, which comprises assemblin a number stantially circular cross-section binding said bundle transversely with a closed ligament ef fined length, thereafter transferring said bundle by crane out of a cargo carrier and into a sec- 0nd cargo carrier, maintaining said bundle during trans rtation in said second car c carrier, and t ereafter removing saidbun e and applied ligament by crane as a unit from said second car 0 carrier, whereby the labor of stowing sai sections individua ly and of. assemblin same into crane loads for successive trans ers is obviated.

2. Method of transferring a car o consist ing of tree trunk sections, the length of which is several times the diameter, by means of a.

are

number of successively employed 'c-argo carriers, which comprises assembling a number of said sections into a bundle of substantially circular cross-section, binding said bundle transversel with a closed 1i ament of fixed length an sufiioient strengt bundle together during transfer b out of a car carrier and into a secondcargo carrier whi e utilizing said ligament in lieu of a sling to hold said bundle together, maintaining said bundle during transportation in said second cargo carrier, and thereafter removing said bundle and applied ligament by crane as a unit from said second cargo carrier, whereby the labor of stowing said sections individually and of assembling same into crane loads for successive transfers is obviated and whereby the use of sli is obviated.

FRAN IS H. WEEKS.

to hold said crane, thereafter transferring said bundle y crane 

